


First Meetings

by reveetoile



Series: Daemon-AU [1]
Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 17:55:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28835229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reveetoile/pseuds/reveetoile
Summary: How Nino met the other five over the year and became friends with them.
Series: Daemon-AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1606300
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4





	First Meetings

Nino held Haru close to his chest as he stood in front of the big building. Haru was wriggling slightly in his arms which caused him to almost slip from Nino's grips, so he moved one arm to hold it under the legs of Haru. 

"Shall we go in?" Nino asked the fox and looked down to meet the curious eyes of his daemon. It was clear that Haru wanted to go in, his tail was swaying from side to side, and his ears were upwards as he listened to the sounds of people around him. 

"Mum gave us money to make us come," Haru reminded him, and Nino flinched. 

"I could tell her that we went and didn't get in," Nino said and shuffled on his face when Haru pressed his ears against his head. He knew that his mother would look through his lie and be disappointed that he lied to her. She would probably also make him give the money back, and Nino was very excited to have gotten so much money. 

Nino was just terrified to be around so many strangers. He had never made friends easily. And since Haru had settled in his fox form people seemed to trust him even less than usual, which ended up with them teasing or ganging up on him. 

"You want to go in," He said then when he saw Haru's eyes wandering around the compound again. It was hard for the daemon to hide his excitement, and Nino knew he was just mimicking his feelings that he felt deep inside. 

It was just that the nervousness was more to the upfront of Nino than of Haru. He sighed and hugged him tighter once again. They invited him for today's auditions, Nino told himself. That meant that it was not totally hopeless and he wouldn't make a total fool out of himself. Besides, he had told nobody in his class or school that he was going here. Even if he didn't get in and failed nobody would know, and nobody could make fun of him. 

He would have to explain to his coach why he wasn't at the baseball match today, but he could tell him the truth and explain that his mother hadn't allowed him to go. 

He blinked when Haru pressed his face against Nino's cheek before moving in his arms and settling around his shoulders. "Let's head in!"

"Okay," Nino chuckled, careful so that Haru wouldn't slip down and entered the agency. He handed his invite to the smiling lady behind a big counter. He looked at her daemon - a small dog breed that was sleeping on the counter, and he was a bit nervous when her eyes fell on Haru, but none of the contempt others showed him sometimes. 

"Did your daemon settle already?" she asked instead, and Nino played nervously with the bushy tail of Haru as he nodded. 

"Uhn half a year ago," he explained with a small blush on his face. He had been so excited about it, and he loved Haru's form. He was a bit of a trickster, so a fox fit his personality, but Haru was also very small and cuddly with very soft fur, which was great for cuddling during sleep. 

"That's good. Here that's for you, they will call you into room 305. It's on the third floor, and you can take the elevator down there. Then turn right, and it's the third door on the left side."

"Thank you," Nino said and bopped his head with a shy smile as he went to the elevator to get to the right place. 

Nino nodded to the other boys that were around when he arrived at the right place. Most were sitting on the floor and looked either similar nervous to Nino or very excited about allowed here. Nino sighed as he leant against the wall and grinned at Haru. 

"What do you think we need to do?" Nino asked in a whisper to the fox who made a very strange shrug that made Nino giggle as always when Haru did human-like things. 

"Sing or dance," Haru answered in a whisper and Nino frowned. He could do neither. He sighed and thought how stupid it was to be here. Baseball would have made much more sense. 

His eyes wandered around, and he curiously watched an older man - probably a janitor - sweeping the floor. His daemon was trailing behind slowly, and Nino observed the pair coming closer. 

"Ah," Nino mumbled when the towel around his neck fell, and before he could think about it, he bent over to pick it up and hand it to the man before the man would have to. 

"Thank you, boy."

Nino nodded, feeling a bit nervous and not sure as to what to say. 

"Are you here to audition?"

"Uhn, yes," Nino said hugging Haru again a bit nervously. "My cousin sent the application," he said, frowning as to why he told the man such a thing. He was sure that he was not interested in knowing why a teen was here. It was also not as if he was the only or first one here. 

"You have a very Japanese face, so I'm sure you can make it," the man said, and Nino felt his cheeks heat up, and hid them behind his hands automatically when he heard the giggles behind him. 

"Um… Thank you," Nino said, insecure about if that was a compliment or not. The faces on idol magazines typically had something outstanding, and he wasn't sure if it was a good thing to have a very average face. 

But he couldn't think any longer as his name was called and he turned to politely say goodbye to the janitor, just to blink as he saw that the old man had gone away already. He exchanged a look with Haru but then shrugged as he entered the room with a handful of other boys. 

They were told to spread out in the surprisingly big room and then had to follow a dance teacher's instructions. It was a few hours later that he was allowed to go home. His head was swimming with the short practice and all the information they got, and he frowned when he realised he was home alone. 

His mother had prepared dinner for him, he saw when he looked into the fridge, and he sighed as he fell to the sofa, Haru curled up on top of him.

"You think we made it?"

"It was fun," Haru said, and Nino hummed softly. It had been fun. Nobody had teased him, and all people were similar to him. Being a junior sounded a bit like an after school club, but with payment which sounded lovely, he thought. The money would help his family, and he was sure he could keep a bit of it for games. Haru nuzzled his chest, and Nino traced his ear lost in thought. But it also sounded a bit scary. He turned to the side and groaned when his stomach grumbled, and Haru looked up with a grin on his face. 

"Hungry."

"Shut up."

"Mum made food. You just need to warm it up. Don't be lazy."

Nino pouted and stuck out his tongue as he stood again, Haru following him close as he warmed the food in the mini oven. He sat at the table and glared at Haru when the fox jumped on the table. 

"Mum says you can't sit on the table."

"She's not here," Haru said smugly, and Nino had to agree with his daemon, but still he fought with him for the best bits of his dinner, giggling at the antics of Haru. He would worry about Johnny's and everything if he got in, he decided. 

— 

Nino was rolled up in his bed around Haru. The blanket was pulled over his head as he cried and hugged Haru as tightly as he could. 

Haru was not moving but pressed his snout tightly against Nino's naked chest. Even in clothes, it had felt too far from Haru, so he took off his clothes and climbed into bed with the fox as soon as he realised they were alone at home. 

He was glad for once that his mother had to work in the evenings so that he didn't act as if he was okay. He was not. He didn't understand why it was so hard. It seemed to be so much easier for other people. 

Since the very first dance class, Nino had felt strange. Their instructor had explained that it would be better for their daemons to be not around their feet during class, which Nino understood. It made sense after all. There was always the danger that he would step on Haru or hurt his daemon and himself in the process. So the daemons stayed close to the wall, and the boys did their training. There were regular breaks all thirty minutes in between and during those breaks Nino always went back to Haru to hug his fox close. 

He stared blankly at the small daemon in his arms as he was reminded how many other teens in his dance class didn't seem to have that problem. There seemed to be no hollow feeling in their chest during the half-hour sessions, and they joked around whenever there were breaks. They went closer to their daemons but didn't look as needy as Nino. 

Nino wondered if he was not expected. He was just so used to be always somehow connected to Haru. Haru had always been around his ankles, rubbing against his calves or sat around his neck and on his lap, if Nino didn't carry him around. He had never thought it was not normal. People were close to their daemons, after all. But now he was not so sure anymore. 

He felt his heart finally fill the void that had settled there over the afternoon and his training and sighed as he pulled the blanket from over his face to take another deep breath. He pulled the paper he had gotten from one of the instructors and stared at it. 

"Separation process," he whispered and hugged Haru closer. The words already were scary. He nibbled on his lower lip as he read it carefully. It was needed for them if they wanted to ever appear on a stage to be able to keep away from their daemons for at least the length of two songs, with their daemons being close to them, but not on the same stage. He was not sure he could do it. 

Maybe he should stop going there, but… But he enjoyed dancing, and he enjoyed to have money to go out with his peers sometimes and have Ramen outside and not having to say no all the time because he had no money. Also, Nino thought, wrinkling his nose, the bullying had stopped since people knew he was in Johnny's. He was sure it would start again or even get worse if he stopped going there. 

He honestly didn't want to live through that again. He sat up, pulling Haru on his lap and bit his lip. "Can we do that, Haru?" he whispered and stared at the sheet of paper. It had written down steps to take to make the process as easy as possible with warning signs as to when to stop or take breaks. 

He slowly moved his lips as he read over the words in a whisper, while Haru was pressed close to him and listened intently. He sighed. 

"It says to take breaks or take it more slowly if I feel uncomfortable. But…"

"But we already feel uncomfortable during training," Haru ended, and Nino nodded. The rest didn't, which probably meant he needed to push himself a bit harder and further if he wanted this to work. 

"Haru shall we do it?" he asked again. It was not only his decision, he thought. Haru suffered under it just the same as he did. 

He looked at the thoughtful face of the fox, playing with his ears, smiling when they twitched under his fingers. He loved Haru's ears a lot, he thought. 

Haru pressed his snout against his palm after a second and Nino knew the daemon agreed with him. They should do it. He closed his eyes and hugged Haru closer. Tomorrow, he thought, tomorrow they would start, and even if it hurt, he would push through it.

And it hurt a lot. With every day Haru and Nino pushed the boundaries it felt as if a little part of his soul died and it left him scarred, feeling alone and anxious even if after forcing himself the hollowness he felt inside his chest when Haru had to stay in the corner during training got more normal to him and easier to ignore. 

And it had positive sides, he thought as he was allowed to back dance for a show for the very first time. It made the tears during the nights almost worth it. He just hoped it would become more manageable soon. 

— 

Nino felt lightheaded as he lied on the sofa. He was hugging Haru tightly to himself and sighed softly. He was just tired after a long training session. He had done things wrong and got yelled at and felt close to crying. As he was told to leave, Haru tried to leave as did he because of his daemon's distress. Luckily the trainer had not attempted to hold him back, and he had hidden in this common room ever since. 

His fingers caressed the soft fur of Haru's belly, and he closed his eyes tiredly. He had to stay later for another lesson and tonight he would be allowed to be on TV if someone didn't decide that his behaviour earlier meant he should be punished instead. 

He sighed, and Haru grumbled comfortingly against his neck where he had comfortable, and Nino checked his watch. Two more hours until the next lesson. He would just take a nap, he decided and yawned slightly as he got more comfortable and dozed off. After the rest, he would be able to do better, he was sure. 

Nino woke up by Haru, nosing his cheek, and he rubbed his face as he carefully turned around and sat up. There were a group of other juniors in the same room with him now, and they looked up when he groaned. 

"Slept well?" they asked in a teasing manner, and she nodded. 

"Uhn," he mumbled, grinning in thanks when one of the boys offered him the rest of his lunch, and he took it over. 

"Ah gotta run," another said suddenly, and Nino's eyes wandered to the clock on the wall, realising that he still had almost an hour. So these boys belonged to another group (which made sense, Nino thought as he watched them leaving, he hadn't seen them before in his classes.) But it was so normal to see people napping or similar things since it was busy to be in the agency. It was exhausting to balance school, training and homework. It was nice not to have to fear being done something to him while relaxing. He nibbled on the rice, Haru by his side and offered him a bite after a while. 

"Did you rest well?" he asked the daemon who stretched and agreed. Nino grinned, the fog in his mind had lifted, and even if he was still a bit sleepy, he felt a lot better than before the nap. It had been the right decision he thought as he finished the food and put it on the table. He wrinkled his nose as he saw the mess the other boys had made and tried to decide if he should clean it or not. But he hadn't done it! So it was not his fault or duty, he thought sullenly when the door was thrown open. 

He cringed in shock as he saw the other boy who took one glance at the table and then grumbled. 

"Clean that mess up!" he bellowed at Nino. 

Nino flinched and stared at him with wide eyes. He wanted to argue since it was not his mess, but the other was glaring scarily at him, and he was older than he. Nino had already learned to respect the elder talents or juniors, so he jumped off the sofa and started to clean up the mess. 

Haru pressed against his side in distress, and Nino felt tears in his eyes since Haru was so uncomfortable. 

"It wasn't us though," the daemon mumbled insecurely before Nino could shush him and Nino ruffled the fur to calm him and threw the stuff in the right bins (hopefully) and then jumped to his feet to run out of the room. Just away from the angry look, he thought, not realising that the other boy's daemon stared after them in confusion and then stared disapprovingly at the other boy. 

"Did I make you cry?" a voice suddenly asked, and Nino looked up with a start. 

He had fled to the roof. There was a smoking area in one corner, and Nino had sat down on the floor, furthest away from it. 

"What?" he mumbled, wiping his eyes. A small surprised gasp and Nino finally recognised the boy who had yelled at him earlier. 

His voice was completely different from earlier, and so he hadn't recognised him right away. 

"I did," the older boy said and bowed in front of him. "I'm sorry. That was totally uncalled," he said, and Nino fought his blush. How embarrassing! 

Not only had he cried because he got scolded, but also the other had seen it, and now everybody on the roof could see him apologising to Nino like that. 

"Uhm… It's okay…" he said slowly. "I mean, it was messy, and I was the only one inside."

"Still I shouldn't have yelled like that, I'm Sakurai Sho, and this is Mikan," he said with an embarrassed smile. 

Nino smiled back, at least he was not the only one embarrassed because of all that happened, he thought.

"Ninomiya Kazunari. This is Haru," he said and hugged Haru, who growled slightly at the raccoon. He could understand the sentiment since he was similarly uncertain about the honesty in their apology. 

Mikan whined and hid behind Sho's legs, and Nino's lips twitched amusedly at the daemon. "So the stuff was not yours?"

Nino shook his head and then nodded just slightly. "Some other boys were having lunch. One gave me the rest of his; I took a nap."

"Eh, you had time to take a nap? Why didn't you go home?"

"I have one more lesson, and then maybe I'm allowed to be on TV," Nino said a bit proud of that and hopeful that it hasn't changed yet. "I was on a break." His voice got a bit quieter at the end as he remembered that he had run out of training's class. He groaned and hid his face in his hands. 

"We have to apologise," Haru said, and Sho lifted an eyebrow.

"What?"

"I ran out of class," Nino mumbled, somehow he needed to get those words out and at least the other boy was not in his class.

Sho didn't laugh at his words to his credit, but as Nino chanced a glance up, he could see that he was biting his lips as not to do that. 

"The teacher told me to get out," Nino defended himself and then ducked his head when Sho lost it and laughed at him. 

"I think nobody runs out when they are scolded but apologise," he snorted, and Nino had to agree. But he hadn't thought clearly then. He sighed and got up. 

"Where are you going?"

"Apologise and ask if my TV appearance is cancelled now," Nino mumbled, and Sho grinned as he followed. Nino lifted his eyebrow and Sho shrugged. Nino watched Haru who sniffled at Mikan's as the daemons followed them, eyeing each other curiously. 

"This is going to be interesting. I want to see what they say. And I feel like I owe you something to make up for yelling earlier," Sho answered his unasked question. 

Nino snorted, but he couldn't find it in himself to disagree when Haru cried out in joy as he and Mikan started to chase each other on the roof. Maybe, he thought as he settled down again, watching his daemon play around freely after so long of not doing so, the apology could wait a bit longer. 

—

Nino stared at the boy for a while. He was small, Nino thought with a slight frown. He was not even sure that the other was old enough to be here. Then again, he had no idea how old you had to be to be able to start here. He had never been interested. Maybe Johnny let kids under ten in?

He frowned and watched Haru, who was following a bug on the ground. Haru was just as bored as he was, waiting until they were allowed into the training hall for today's training. School had been awfully dull, and he felt antsy since baseball training had been cancelled so that he had no chance to move. 

Also, Nino looked forward to the gymnastic lessons today. Just a bit more and he was sure that he could do the double backflip and then hopefully a somersault in the end. He had practised for the last few weeks now and today would be the last practise before that corner was on the junior show. He wanted to show his abilities. He loved when others juniors, hosts and audience were awed by his skills and he had a knack for acrobatics he found. 

"So Johnny-san himself called me and invited me since I missed the auditions! He was so nice. I knew that it was a good idea to send the application the day of the ceremony," the new boy said excitedly, and Nino blinked. He was really loud, he thought, surprised to see that the other stood beside him very suddenly. 

"Huh?" he said a bit dumbly, his eyes moving around until they fell on Haru who was in the corner of the hallway, staring at the stupid white hedgehog of the other boy with a distrustful look on his face as he tried to get away from the prickly daemon. 

Haru never felt comfortable around others, humans or daemons alike, too similar to his human who didn't trust other humans easily. Nino couldn't help but fear that anybody out there would hurt him or Haru. He was very protective, he knew. 

"How did you get into the agency?" he heard, and Nino shifted the weight from one foot to the other slightly, his look going to the other boy, who looked at him with giant bug-like eyes and he carefully moved closer to Haru. Haru could jump well, and he was sure the other could jump into his arms if he were close enough without getting too close to the stranger's daemon. His eyes fell on one of the older teens in the agency as he felt still the other's eyes on him, and he finally was close enough for Haru to jump. 

"He's my big brother," Nino lied easily, using the surprise in the boy and his daemon to hold up his arms for Haru, smiling when his daemon settled in his arms and nuzzled his shoulder. "But he is the son of another woman, so we try not to show it," he added as an afterthought, grinning when the door to the training's hall finally opened. He ignored as the younger boy entered the room behind him and walked over to the window where a few other boys Nino knew and talked with. 

"I brought you melon pan!" Jun said as he entered the common room Nino was in. Nino looked up from his game console at the words and grinned. It had taken a few weeks, but he had gotten used to the very excited younger boy over time. Nino had realised that Jun was just as nervous and shy as he had been when he had first entered. 

Nino still didn't know why Jun was interested in, but Jun told him, that he had thought Haru was very beautiful and Nino had preened and proudly patted Haru at the compliment, because well, it was true. Haru was the prettiest daemon he had ever seen (at least in his mind and he knew he was biased but anybody could fight him and he would never agree with another opinion!)

Haru jumped from the backrest where he had stretched out with his head on Nino's shoulder to follow the story of the RPG Nino had played. Nino observed him as Haru got closer to Nao, and both daemons' snouts touched in a greeting. 

"And Nao brought a nut and fruit mix for the daemons," Jun said as he put the bowl, he had in his hands to the floor. Nino grinned as he watched the daemons carefully eating out of the bowl, almost not touching and felt the happiness of Haru wash over him. He was always happy when Haru was, and he enjoyed it a lot. 

"Thank you," Nino said and held out his hand, but Jun was furrowing his brows and looking down at him. He lifted his eyebrow and tilted his head. 

"What's up?"

"You lied?"

"I did?" Nino asked, playing dumb. Well, he probably did if Jun said so, but honestly: He lied a lot. Or he wouldn't call it lying he just liked to stretch the truth a little bit and make things up to be more interesting or not tell others everything they wanted to know. There was no need to tell other private things, after all. 

Jun huffed and fell on the sofa beside him. He shoved his shoulder, and Nino giggled as he fell to the armrest without resistance. 

"What did I lie about? I'm sure it's a misunderstanding."

"It was so embarrassing!" Jun yelled, getting the attention of the daemons. Nino's eyes darted to the daemons, grinning when Nao giggled at the antics of Jun. It wasn't that bad then. 

"What was?"

"I told that boy that I can understand the problems and heaviness about having to hide that he has a little brother! He asked me what I was talking about. He looked so worried, so I told him you are fine! He said he had no secret brother. You lied!"

Nino's mouth fell open to a perfect round "oh" as he remembered the lie he had told when they first met. He laughed helplessly and hid his face behind his hands. 

"I told you you can't talk about it!" he shrieked when Jun poked his side. "And there you go and do!"

"Well he looked worried, and you were ill the last two weeks, so it made sense!" Jun defended himself, and Nino peeked from behind his hands as he saw the honest expression in Jun's big eyes. Jun's eyes were still too big for his face, as seemed his teeth to be too big for his mouth. But Jun was honest and hardworking, that was why Nino liked him and why Haru trusted them. 

Nino smiled and poked his cheek. "You're cute," he decided giggling when Jun huffed, his cheeks slightly red as he pushed the melon pan into his face. 

—

"I hate rain," Haru whined, and Nino snorted. 

"I know, but I forgot my umbrella."

"Mum told you to bring it!"

"Yes, and?" Nino said and looked at him. "I don't remember you reminding me when we left this morning."

Haru pouted from the floor where he was and stood on his hind legs to paw at Nino's trousers. "Carry me," he demanded.

"I'm tired. You are heavy," Nino said and grinned when Haru pouted. "It's all those snacks that Mikan and Nao bring for practise."

"You eat them as well!" 

"Yes, but I also move my body a lot and am a growing boy," he teased. "You don't."

Haru whined, and Nino knew he would end up carrying Haru, but he could tease him a bit, he decided. He was angry at himself for forgetting the umbrella. His mother would reprimand him as well when he was home. He felt slightly warm at the thought of seeing his mother in the evening, and even if work was hard, the extra income meant that his mother could keep them all afloat with just one job instead of two. 

"Mum will have made stew or soup," Nino hummed. "Because it's raining and getting cold. And you can take a bath at home. How about it? Shall we take a bath tonight?"

"I don't like water," Haru snorted, and Nino grinned. He knew that. That didn't mean that he wouldn't spray water on Haru in the bath though. If he didn't do it too much, it wouldn't affect him after all. 

"Don't you have an umbrella?" Nino heard a voice suddenly close by and he turned around in surprise. He frowned at the other boy since he hadn't seen him before, his eyes wandered down to be met by a Shikoku Ken dog. Nino smiled, couldn't not. He had always liked dogs. People who had dogs as representations of their soul reminded him of his grandfather, and therefore they must be good. There was no other possibility. 

"No, I forgot mine," Nino said with a frown. "You're new!"

"Yeah, I started just at the end of the week," the other said with a happy grin. "It's super excited, even if I was bummed when I was told that we are not going to play basketball here."

"What?"

"Ah!" the other exclaimed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I saw SMAP playing basketball on the TV. It looked fun, and I wanted to play with them, so I sent an application. I even brought my own, but then they told me we sing and dance here. Man, I wanted to go home, but I was already here, and it looked fun, and the others are nice. So yeah…" he trailed off, looking all shy suddenly and Nino pressed his hand against his mouth as to not end up laughing out loud. 

Playing basketball? Really? Who would think that a talent's agency would only play basketball? It was hilarious. The more surprising it was that he got in. But then, Nino had long learnt that Johnny-san (that damn old janitor actually was the boss of this agency! How mortifying that had been to Nino when he found out) worked in strange ways. 

He groaned when Haru used his distraction to jump on his shoulder and curl around his neck. 

"Haru!" 

"What? My legs are tired," the fox said in feigned innocence, and Nino snorted. He was once again reminded of the rain and groaned as he looked at his watch. He had to get going, or he would be late, and he didn't want to worry his mother. Damn! He had hoped the rain would be over by then.

"Uhm…" 

Nino blinked as he was reminded of the other and looked back. "What? I need to go home, or my mother will worry."

"Me too!" he said with a bright smile, brandishing a big umbrella. "I saw you use the Sobusen line as well! So we can go together?"

"Huh?"

"We can become friends, right?"

"Huh?" Nino repeated dumbly. "What?"

"You seem to get along well with others, I haven't gotten to known anybody yet," the other mumbled looking down. "I came in late, and there are all groups already."

"Huh?" Nino frowned a bit. Was that the only thing he could say? Apparently, he thought ironically, ignoring the snicker from Haru at his thoughts. 

"I'm not good at talking with others."

"But you talk with me just fine."

"Because you need help!" the other shouted. "And you're alone right now," he added with a shy grin.

Nino couldn't deny that and stared again at the umbrella. "Ninomiya Kazunari," he said then. "Nice to meet you."

Haru grumbled and looked the other way when Nino looked at him in waiting and rolled his eyes. "This stubborn one is Haru."

"Aiba Masaki and Yua," Aiba said and held out his hand. "To being friends?"

Nino stared at his hand for a long while, thinking about it. He could feel Haru's unease as well, but in the end, he held out his hand. "Whatever," he mumbled, promising himself and Haru to be careful. The other was way too open to be telling the truth right now. 

"Haru. Where's Haru?" Nino cried as he sat on the bed and ignored the doctor who was trying to check on his wrist. He tried to get off the bed, but the trainer was glaring at him. 

"I will get him!" Aiba said suddenly, and Nino looked up with tears in his eyes. 

"Haru is hurt," he said and rubbed his eyes, before flinching since it hurt. "I want Haru."

Aiba nodded and hurried out of the room to get back to the practice hall it was the only place Haru could have hidden, sighing in relief when he saw him pressed under the benches in a corner. 

"Haru are you okay?" 

Haru looked up and whined softly in distress. Nino had been carried out of the practise hall because he had fallen and landed wrongly. Haru knew that Nino was in pain as he could feel it mimicked in his paw. 

"Nino is in the infirmary why aren't you with him?" Aiba asked with a frown. He knew that Nino and Haru actually could be the furthest away from all juniors he had seen so far, and he wondered how a person like Nino who seemed to be so dependent on Haru managed it when he hated the separation process. But it was very strange that Haru was not close when Nino was hurt. 

Aiba swore he had heard the snap of Nino's wrist when another junior had got into the way and unbalanced Nino mid-jump. It had been gruesome to see Nino cry out in pain. He blinked when Yua pushed the back of his knee, and his mind finally caught up. 

Nino couldn't move his wrist, meaning that at least one paw of Haru was hurt. It was possible that Haru couldn't walk! Depending on how hurt the small fox was. The trainers had been so worried that they had carried Nino away without checking on his daemon - usually, daemons followed their humans everywhere after all or would be on top of their humans' bodies. But Haru had on the other end of the training hall. 

"You can't walk," he realised, and Haru whined again in distress. "Oh, God…"

Aiba stared at him at a loss of words, before his eyes wandered around. "I will bring you to Nino. No worries."

Haru moved back when Aiba reached out, and Yua growled a warning. "No!" Haru shouted and then whined louder as he put weight on his hurt paw. 

Right no touching, Aiba reminded himself with a frown. For a second, his mind had been so full of helping Nino and his daemon that he had forgotten that it was not Yua. A shudder ran over his back at the thought of having almost touched another daemon, and he apologised to both daemons before looking around. He pulled out his towel from his back, glad that he had brought a new one today and then got closer to Haru again. The fox stared at him with distrust, and Aiba knelt on the floor to show him the towel. "I will put this around you. It's big and thick. Yua will help me so I won't touch you okay? I'm sure Yua can also carry you, and I only will make sure you won't fall."

Haru nodded after a few seconds of thought. He wanted his human now!

Aiba was cautious as he wrapped the towel around Haru, making sure not to touch the daemon and not move his paw too much. Yua helped put the towel under Haru and when they were sure Haru was covered Aiba sighed in relief.

"I'm going to lift you on Yua," he warned, and he was careful as he only touched the towel under Haru's watchful eyes and put him on top of his daemon who was very still. When he was sure that Haru was secure on top, Aiba left the practice hall to finally go to the infirmary.

Nino cried out when he saw Aiba entering the room finally and pulled his arm back from the doctor, ignoring the glare from the man. Yua came close, and Nino picked his daemon up, burying his head in the soft fur crying softly from the combined pain of his wrist and the way too long being separated from Haru while he was feeling so awful. 

The trainer had left already to fill out an insurance form, and Aiba sat on the chair close to the bed, patting Nino's head until the boy calmed down and finally allowed the doctor to treat his wrist. In contrast, the doctor's daemon - a monkey - checked over Haru to bandage the fox up as well.

"Thank you," Nino whispered when they were alone, and Aiba grinned brightly. 

"No problem. Shall I accompany you home? Haru can ride on Yua if you both are okay with it."

Nino stared down at his daemon and then at Yua and nodded. "Please," he agreed, his parents wouldn't be able to fetch him for the next two hours, and he just wanted to go home and head to bed.

— 

Nino was stirring his breakfast cereals, feeling slightly sick to the stomach. It would be the first time he would be away from home for a few weeks, and it was a very strange thought. Because he had entered Johnny's so early, he hadn't been able to travel with school, so it was doubly strange to go away now with the agency. 

"Kazunari, eat your breakfast and don't play with it."

"I'm not hungry," he mumbled and looked at his mother, who chuckled and watched him with fond eyes. 

"You are, you're just nervous."

"I'm not sure I want to go," he mumbled, feeling embarrassed. All of his friends who would also go to Kyoto were so excited about it. Aiba was talking about slipping out of the dorms in the night to look around and how they could explore Kyoto on their free time and how great it was to spend summer holidays together. Jun was just as excited even if he was a bit more nervous about it than Aiba. Mostly because Jun always worried to not do that well in training or front of an audience. 

"Aww," she said and ruffled his hair with the tips of her fingers. "Not even gone and already homesick?"

Nino stayed silent, still pushing around his food. He couldn't meet his mother's eyes, because yes, he knew he would get homesick and he was scared to be made fun of. Or what if something else happened that made everybody laugh at him?

He grimaced and then sighed though, as he felt suddenly calmer and loved a lot. His eyes fell on Haru who had been moping beside him on the floor. His daemon was just as nervous as Nino about leaving home for a month. Now his mother's daemon had sidled up to Haru and started to groom him. 

Nino smiled, and his mother cupped his cheek to kiss his forehead. "You'll do fine. And you have a phone now. So you can call us anytime you feel lonely. But I'm sure you will have so much fun that you wouldn't even realise how much time has gone already. It's similar to the weekend training camps at the agency. Your friends go with you, right?"

Nino smiled, feeling a lot more hopeful suddenly and he nodded. "Right, thank you, mum."

"Sure sweetheart. Just promise me to listen to your trainers and behave."

Nino giggled and hid his face behind his elbow. "I'll try my best," he promised, his eyes twinkling when she rolled her eyes. 

His mother knew him well enough to know that he would probably play one or two pranks and she got to know Aiba well enough that the other boy would not be a good influence on Nino's cheeky nature. But Nino knew that his mother didn't mind but thought it was normal for children to do.

"And try not to get hurt again," she reminded him, and Nino grimaced remembering about how long it had taken him to heal his hand. It had been just his luck to get it infected after the bones were broken. (And Nino swore it had nothing to do with him playing too many games during the healing process!)

"I promise!" He took two bites of his cereal before grimacing since it was way too soggy now for him to enjoy. But before he could try to explain to his mother that he didn't want to eat it (his mother was strict about throwing food out) the doorbell rang, and he jumped to his feet. 

"That's Jun for sure. His father agreed to drive us to the meeting point," Nino explained and grabbed his bag. "I have to go."

"Kazunari," his mother stopped him halfway to the door, and he stopped as he stared at her with wide eyes. She smiled and caressed his cheek with her fingers. "Take care. And have fun."

"Uhn!" Nino said as he shouldered his bag and caught Haru with a laugh after his mother's daemon let him go. "I call every night!" he promised, and she laughed as she nodded and waved at him when Nino finally ran out of the door to thank Matsumoto-san to drive them and threw his bag into the back before sliding into the car with Haru on his lap. His mother was right. He would be fine. 

—

Nino huffed as he let his bag fall on the bed on the bottom of the bunk beds. He sat down on the mattress and pulled Haru from his shoulders to his lap, glaring at the fox who was grinning back. "You're heavy," he scolded. 

"You are comfy," Haru answered as he shrugged and Nino rolled his eyes. He was not really mad, since he liked carrying Haru around close to many people, but it had been heavy to carry everything upstairs to where the dorms were situated together with his bag. 

He watched as the other four boys entered the room and grinned since it was all his friends: Jun, Masaki, Kazama and Toma. There would be one bed left of the six-person room, but Sho would join them later. Nino was not sure if the older boy would stay with them or room up with another group. 

"You better go up. Haru can actually climb," Jun scolded, and Nino rolled his eyes but had to agree. 

"But not if Aiba is going to be under me. I'm sure he would jostle the mattress," he grumbled and grinned when Jun rolled his eyes but shoved him to the side to put his stuff on the mattress. 

"Then this is my bed," he said, and Nino grinned. He let Haru climb up with his bag because he was lazy and laid down. 

"We should go, training starts in a bit," Jun said and poked Nino's side. Nino sighed as he looked at his watch. They still had thirty minutes, but he knew that Jun wanted to be early rather than on time. 

"Aiba, Toma, Kazama, let's leave," Jun said and pulled Nino up who grumbled but finally got up. 

"Haru let's go," Nino said, groaning when the fox jumped on his back. He pulled him into his arms and then left behind the other four out. 

Nino felt a bit nervous about meeting the older juniors that regularly appeared in stage plays. Sho had already been here one year and told them that it was a fun experience and a bit stressful and nerve-wracking. 

They entered the training room when they were allowed to, and Nino brought Haru to the corner, telling him to stay there with the other daemons. Nino felt more comfortable when Yua, Nao and Mikan were close to Haru, and he was happy when the daemons plus Kazama's and Toma's rolled up there to nap or play with each other. It felt wonderful to know his daemon (and therefore he) was not alone. 

Soon enough, they were told to move and start their training. Nino thought he was being watched, so he looked up in confusion and frowned as he suddenly faced to face with an older boy, his daemon settled around his neck in a way Nino know Haru did with him. The boy stared straight ahead, and Nino was probably only accidentally right in the line of his sight. What stood out was that the other was picking his nose. 

Nino frowned and stumbled when the teacher suddenly yelled for the other to get out. 

They all stopped what they were doing, staring at that boy, who blinked lazily and stared at the teacher, who was seething. 

"Ohno get out!"

The boy - Ohno - stood and made his way to the door when the teacher shouted again. 

"Stop it! What the? Who would go out if said so?! In the middle and show if you learnt any of the steps you are supposed to," the teacher grumbled, and Nino blushed as he heard the people of his class giggle. 

He was, after all, a person who had run out when told to do so. He shuffled his feet but then looked up again when there was a gasp of the people around him. His eyes were soon on Ohno who easily did the steps they were taught earlier, and Nino wondered how he did it without rustling the daemon around his shoulders in awe. 

Their trainer rolled his eyes but then turned off the stereo and told them that it was break time and that they were allowed to go out. Nino smiled when Haru jumped over to him and played with his ears. 

"Let's go outside!" Aiba said and tugged at Nino's wrist who rolled his eyes but allowed the others to drag him out with them outside to play while their daemons used the space to wrestle each other as well. 

It was a fun break, and soon Nino had forgotten about the slightly embarrassing moment earlier during practice and the very strange older boy. 

—

Nino was silent as he climbed off his bunk bed a week later. He was exhausted. His body hurt from hours of training and moving around too much in general, and he wanted nothing more but sleep. 

But sleep didn't come tonight, and he had already turned and paced for a few hours now in the bed. He listened to the other boys around him snoring and making small sounds in general that he usually didn't mind, but tonight it was too much for him. 

He was frustrated and had tried to force himself to fall asleep with petting Haru or whispering stories to the fox, but neither he nor Haru were able to fall to sleep, sadly. 

He sighed and closed his eyes as he tried to calm down, but his heart rate just sped up as he felt like crying or shouting and very suddenly the room seemed too small, and there seemed to be no air anymore, and he knew that he had to do something. That was why Nino carefully climbed down the ladder and then waited for Haru to join him. Haru was faster and quieter than him, but neither of the other boys or daemon woke up. So they sneaked outside. He closed the door carefully, staring at the long hallway and down to Haru. "What now?"

Haru stared at him for a second and looked right and left, before head-butting his knee and walking to the right side where the stairs were situated. 

Nino frowned slightly but followed his daemon to the training room they were normally in and then opened the porch door. On very hot days the trainer would have it open so that the circulation was good. 

Nino sat down on the porch and pulled his legs close to himself as he hugged them and watched Haru walk down on the grass. His tail swayed from side to side as he sniffed the floor and Nino knew he found a grasshopper when he felt excitement in his gut and smiled. At least one of them had fun, he thought and put his head on his knees as his eyes continued to follow Haru's form. His breath hitched slightly when their bond got tugged too sharply, but soon enough Haru was running back to him and settling down around his feet. 

"Sorry," Haru mumbled, and Nino shook his head. 

"It's fine. You should be able to roam," he whispered and wiped away the tears that had sprung to his eyes. Haru nuzzled against his naked calves and then into his palm and Nino relaxed slowly again. He felt strange. He couldn't put his finger on what and why he felt that way, but he was ready for it to stop. 

"I miss Ken," Haru finally whispered, and Nino blinked at the name of his mother's daemon. 

"I miss mum," he agreed and pressed his lips against his knees. "But I'm too old to be homesick, I refuse to be homesick!" he decided as he pressed his face harder against his knees. He wouldn't cry.

"Those are big words," a voice suddenly said, and Nino turned around in shock. He dislodged Haru in his haste, who growled and Nino fell to his knees as he recognised Ohno. 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to spook you." There was a small pause which Ohno used to sit down beside Nino who observed him as Haru came to hide in his arms. 

"Ninomiya-kun, right?"

"Uhn, Ninomiya Kazunari," Nino said sullenly. "What are you doing here?"

"I felt like taking a breather. And Mimi told me she heard something so I decided to check," he explained and his fingers buried into the soft-looking fur of the cat daemon that made herself comfortable on Ohno's lap before she started to groom herself. 

"I'm fine. Thank you," Nino mumbled, drawing his legs closer again to his body and trapping Haru between his legs and body that way.

Ohno chuckled and stared into the darkness. "So, you miss home?"

Nino pouted but didn't answer. So he was surprised when he felt a hand on his head. He looked up with surprise that only got greater when he realised that Ohno was not making fun of him or anything similar. He had been sure that Ohno would think of him as childish or something similar. 

"I can understand that. I miss home a lot as well."

"But you've been here for a while right? And you are older!"

"Yes three years already," Ohno said with a shrug. "And being homesick has nothing to do with age."

"I thought only little children get homesick."

"It can happen to everybody, ne Mimi?"

"Yes, I always miss mum and dad," she agreed. 

Nino stared at the pair and then hugged Haru tightly, burrowing his face in the soft fur as he lost the fight against his tears. He honestly missed his mother right now, even if he had tried to lie to himself. "And I'm tired and want to sleep but can't even if everything hurts," he added feeling miserable. 

Ohno hummed and put an arm around his shoulders, ruffling his hair fondly, and Nino pressed against the older to allow the comfort the other was offering him to wash over his body. 

"I promise tomorrow everything will be better again," Ohno promised, and somehow Nino believed him. 

He calmed down after almost another hour and Ohno lifted his head to wipe his wet cheeks. "Let's go back in, and you try to get some sleep, okay? Practise will continue tomorrow, and you can call your mum in the morning as well."

"Yes," Nino said shyly but happily at the thought of calling his mother. He hugged Haru close to himself and bopped his head. "Thank you."

"I will bring you upstairs," Ohno said and winked at him. "That way, we can tell the people that we sneaked out to play if we are found out."

Nino grinned a bit at the promise and nodded bright-eyed. That way nobody would know that he had just cried. Ohno seemed to be much better than he had thought possible.

—

"We are going to Hawaii tomorrow," Haru whispered, and Nino nodded. He sighed as he pulled the comforter more over them. 

"Yes, you know what that means?" Nino whispered. "They all say we are going to debut. But…"

"But we said we want to quit. Johnny said it's fine after we record the song," Haru answered, and Nino nodded. 

That was true. They just had to do the song and be mascots for the volleyball world cup. He sighed and buried his head in the soft fur of his head. He didn't know what he should wish for. Which truth would he like more?

Then he thought about the worries that he shared with Ohno and Sho so far. Both of them wanted to quit as well, live everyday life. 

"We'll see," Nino mumbled sleepily and moved so that they could lie down more comfortably. Tomorrow they would travel, and he would go to Hawaii. He was looking forward t it. 

Even if it would be exhausting and even if it was only for a very short time, it was indeed fun to record a song with the friends he had made over the last few years. Even if nothing else would ever come out of being in JE for his youth, he had made great friends. A small smile on his face as he thought of those people he would never have met otherwise and never want to miss now.


End file.
